Bourdouvales was charged after an investigation found she had hoarded dozens of sick puppies, many of which died due to a lack of adequate medical care. Despite this, she bred the puppies for sale to customers across the state, with some animals even dying after being sold despite their new owners’ efforts to save them, according to Union County Assistant Prosecutor Patricia Cronin in a news release.

A yearlong investigation into Bourdouvales’s activities, led by New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) Lt. Frank D. Rizzo II and Investigator Denyel Cusimano, in partnership with the Union County Prosecutor’s Office, resulted in the execution of a search warrant on March 8 when a total of 19 dogs of varying ages and medical states, living in unsafe and unsanitary conditions at Bourdouvales’s home on the 600 block of E. Front Street in Plainfield, were seized, Cronin said.

The dogs seized on the day on that day were placed into the care of the Cranford-based Best Friend Dog and Animal Adoption and Traveling Paws Animal Rescue, as well as Brendan’s Meadows Rescue in Mountainside.

Bourdouvales had earlier pleaded guilty to selling sick animals out of her car in Plainfield in 2015, after which she was ordered to pay nearly $20,000 in restitution.

Anyone with information about similar incidents is urged to contact their local police department and request to speak with the assigned humane law enforcement officer.